World News Quick Take

AGENCIES

■ UNITED STATES

Women ran prostitution ring

Five women accused of running massage parlors as fronts for prostitution were convicted of conspiracy on Friday in a trial that focused on a far-flung sex industry that brought Korean women to work as prostitutes along the East Coast. The women can expect to spend up to three years in prison. Prosecutors alleged that women were smuggled into the US with fake documents and shuttled in cabs from parlor to parlor. They worked up to 18 hours per day to repay huge smuggling fees.

■ UNITED STATES

Scare charges dropped

Authorities in New Haven, Connecticut, have dropped charges against two people who inadvertently caused a bioterrorism scare when they sprinkled flour in a parking lot to mark a trail for their offbeat running club. The sprinkled powder forced hundreds to evacuate an IKEA furniture store in August. Ophthalmologist Daniel Salchow, 36, and his sister, Dorothee, 31, were charged with first-degree breach of peace, a felony. The charges were tossed out on Thursday after Daniel Salchow agreed he and his sister would pay US$4,000 to local charities. Daniel Salchow and his attorney, Michael Jefferson, said they were pleased with the resolution but still believe authorities overreacted.

■ UNITED STATES

O.J. may not have known

O.J. Simpson may not have been aware that men accompanying him to a confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers in Las Vegas were carrying guns, a court heard on Friday. Auction house owner Thomas Riccio, the man who set up the meeting that ultimately led to Simpson's arrest, also told a hearing in Las Vegas that at no stage in the incident did Simpson brandish a firearm. "It was real chance he didn't know [about the guns]," said Riccio, who rented the room at the Palace Station Hotel where the incident happened. "Do I know 1,000 percent? I know that's what [Simpson] said. He was standing several feet in front of the guns."

■ UNITED STATES

Nominee gunman released

The man who shot and paralyzed Alabama Governor George Wallace during the 1972 presidential race was released from prison on Friday, prison officials said. Arthur Bremer, who shot Wallace and three others as the governor campaigned in Maryland for the Democratic presidential nomination, wrote in his diary that he acted to gain fame. Bremer served 35 years but was released 17 years early from a Maryland prison because of good behavior. Wallace, known for his racist policies and statements, was an Alabama governor and ran unsuccessfully for president four times. He later became a born-again Christian and repudiated his racist views.